Fight After Fight
by SpookShadowblitz
Summary: With The Golden Age seemingly never ending, three young Demicons participate in the Annual Iacon Tournament, finding this is the end of one era as another begins. Contains Knockout x OC Shadowave pairing
1. So it begins

_AN: A disclaimer. The following story will contain snuggling, lots of drama, violence, and more drama. Shadowave (AKA Shadowblitz) is a creation of my own demented mind and is used here to play around with Characters that were originally made by Hasbro._

_Keep in mind I like to dabble in the sandbox, so in the end, everything is all fun and games and not intended to be copyrighting a franchise. So just have fun!  
_

"Femmes and Mechs, welcome all and any to the annual tournament!" the announcer called over an echoing PA system. The voice of a Cybertronian was followed by the plethora of blood thirsty cheers. The Annual Tournament wasn't as yearly as it should have been, but only because finding enough cutthroat gladiators all over Cybertron was harder than trying to find a living in equality. Whatever the time span, citizens of the Grand Coliseum, located just outside Iacon, were thrilled for the fights that ensued. Perhaps it made them forget that their lives weren't as miserable where all stood as equals.

"Tonight, we will start the tournament with Single mech rounds and end the night with team championships!" The crowd cheered regardless. The announcer could have told them he was sipping high grade energon and they still would have cheered, so long as they got to see some fighting. "So without further ado, let's begin! First match is Brawl VS Wheeeeeeeeeeljack!"

The match barely needed an announcement to begin. The two contestants were already running towards each other with weapons drawn and firing. Everyone cheered as Brawl landed the first brutalizing punch. But Wheeljack stood undeterred and landed a punishing roundhouse, sending the large construction mech flying against the wall.

Inside, an on looking contestant jumped back as the window he peered out was quickly filled by a blue and green Mech. He was quite obviously nervous and bringing timid servos close to his body to wring at them nervously. He nearly jumped twenty feet out of his hull when a hand slapped against his shoulder.

"Don't worry Sound! We don't compete with the big dogs" a cheerful and young voice tried to assure. Of course Soundwave didn't need to see who it was, he already knew just based on the voice.

"You're sure?" Sound retorted, his voice just as childish and with barely a hint of masculinity in it. He caught the silver friendly optics looking at his facial screen; and of course his brother was smiling.

"Come on!" another voice interjected, though he sounded much older. The mech on the other side of the room was much larger and thicker than the other two, but he shared similar facial structure, long body specs, and even a screen with a blue glowing orb that represented his eye. Despite his towering stature and much more matured voice, he was actually the youngest of the trio. "Papa trained us well, so we can't possibly lose!"

"Shock has a point." The leaner and more bestial mech concurred, with his arm still latched around Soundwave's broad shoulders. "With the Best Gladiator on the whole fraggin' planet teraining us, who could beat us?" that coy smile was back and only after a quick pat to his back plating did the other mech leave Soundwave.

"I know…but something just doesn't seem…well right." The dark blue-gray and purple marked mech responded as he turned and joined his companions. But he was only met with silver optics again that smiled at him, but the bearer was shaking his head calmly. "We'll be fine. Besides, the two of us are tiny compared to some of those brutes." The bestial one chuckled lightly and put on a reassuring grin, flashing slightly predatory teeth "I have strategies to fight even them if it comes to that."

Soundwave was more confident with that. He already suspected his brother had a strategy to combat just about anything they faced, but hearing it was more of a boost than just hoping it was true. In any case, he was more eager to grab hold of the black piece of cloth and tie it around his neck. Their team was marked only by what they could get a hold of in the last minute preparations. Though it was nothing more than a black bandanna with a crudely drawn white symbol, it still meant something to Soundwave.

- — - — - — - — -

The next few hours of the evening consisted of listening to the uproarious crowd outside and mental prep. Team fights were just right after this next match, and the youngest trio there had already been informed they were on deck alongside another team simply called "Destructors." When their oldest member had heard the name, Shadow scoffed and called it uncreative. Though this was the first year team matches were allowed.

Not much to expect.

"Team Spook, you're up." A femme bot called from near the entrance of the lonely locker rooms. She looked up from her information panel and nearly burst into laughter right there "Medical is already on standby." She giggled. The group ignored her and brushed past, stepping onto the poorly constructed elevator and being brought up about one level and thrown straight into the arena.

"Femmes and Mechs, for the first time in eons, we present to you team matches!" The crowd went nuts as always. "Rules are simple; teams of 3 will face each other in a show of brute strength. Only physical attacks here folks!" the announcer paused as the contestants worked their way onto the field. Team Destructors looked around for a moment before seeing their opponents were nothing more than a group of kids and once they started laughing, the whole crowd did. "Looks like we have some Sparklings fresh out of Diapers! This can't possibly last long!" another announcer joined in as part of the commentary.

"No grownups huh, Shadow?" Shockwave snarled as he pounded his fist against his other hand. But their leader was silent; as was Soundwave. The two had their game face on and both were analyzing their opponents.

"All right gents, I'll go over the rules one more time." A referee said as he approached, looking down at the half sized kids, trying his best to keep a straight face. "First team to have all three members fall and stay down is the winner. This is a KO match, but termination won't be held as a foul." The black and white mech eyed the younglings warily, but all three were too focused on their targets, which at best were twice the size of Shockwave.

"Leaders step forth and shake hands!" the Ref bellowed as he announced it to the whole crowd. One bruiser stepped forward and waited for Shockwave to move, but instead found the smallest of the group to move. The giant black and pale green mech couldn't help but burst out laughing, even as he was met with dead seriousness by the silver optic. "Fine pipsqueaks. But we won't hold back, so let this be a lesson that you're out of your league." The giant boasted. He offered the opposing leader a pinky to shake and Shadow accepted, never taking his steely optics off his opponent.

Once the leaders had stepped back, the crowd gradually grew to a hush as the teams turned and moved back to opposite sides of the arena. Only when the ref had made his way out of the battle zone of rocks and dirt did he sound an alarm. The Destructors immediately ran forward with a mace, axe, and sword drawn and readied. But the younglings stood absolutely still, waiting for their target to close in.

"S-three, distract on my order. S-two to sector 5 beta and I'll move to beat 10. Converge at the apex and hit pressure points." Shadow commanded. The other two acknowledged with silent HUD winks. They all had one advantage working for them. And while their enemy drew closer and closer, the three spooks only scanned their enemies and found weak points to strike.

The most agile of the three Destructors bolted forward with sword raised. He grinned as he prepared to slash downward, but the two kids suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving behind Shockwave who caught the sword in mid swing. The red and gold mech only held a face of astonishment as his weapon was forced back and he was pushed off balance, colliding with the other two.

"Would you watch it?" the Femme of the team barked out as her comrade bumped into her. She looked up and saw the tiny figure of Soundwave outlined by the stadium lights. Instinctively she blocked, but she was slow to react and the mech barreled down at her, squarely kicking a crack in her left optic. She screeched and lashed her ax around in hopes to hit something, but only hit their leader in the arm.

"Careful!" he growled, but something struck the back of his right knee. He tried to grab whatever struck him before falling to one knee, but missed. A second later, Shadow appeared before him, now at optic level, and smacked the brute upside the jaw with a long staff. Only when the youngling's swing had been completed did he turn and used the weapon to vault himself in the air. He landed on the red and gold Destructor and jabbed the pole right between the junction of the neck and shoulder. Down went that giant as he too tried to grab the tiny leader; only able to grab the air left behind.

Now the three younglings met up in their original spots. Shockwave supported a ball and chain like weapon while Soundwave bore twin blades. All three were ready to strike again as they watch the giant's try to regain their fighting postures.

"Switch targets, same maneuver!" Shadow called out and once again he and Soundwave bolted forward, moving so swiftly, they were nearly invisible. Shockwave this time eyed the leader, and charged forth more sluggishly. But once he swung downward with the momentum based weapon, the black and green brute was clutching at his gut, winded more than anything as a well aimed high kick knocked his chin back and brought him crashing to the ground. Shockwave stood atop his conquest and swung his weapon around, daring his opponent to even try and get up.

Soundwave lashed out at the mech with a long sword, slicing the brute along the sides of his arms and the insides of his legs. Only when the red and gold Destructor fell to clench at his Energon oozing wounds did Soundwave stab both swords into his optics. The bruiser let out a horrifying cry and fell back to clench at his face, writhing in agony.

The Femme mech now caught sight of the one who took her optic and charged forth to terminate him, but tripped over the staff of Shadow. Once she fell forward, he jumped up and cracked the back of her head with the weapon to knock her unconscious. The three looked to one another, seeing if any one of them were harmed; not a scratch anywhere.

The crowd had been utterly silent, horrified at what they had just witnessed. "I-I…don't believe it. Team Spook…won? And under 5 minutes!" One announcer was in utter disbelief, but it didn't last very long as the entire crowd, suddenly enthused by the underdog victory, cheered for the younglings.

"I think they liked us." Shockwave commented as he transformed his right servo back from holding a weapon of destruction. Soundwave sheathed his blades delicately, turning them into wings, while the staff Shadow wielded became segmented and latched back to the base of his spine. "That's good right?" the leader asked as he looked at his teammates. Both shrugged and looked around the stadium as their audios were filled with the continuous sounds of victory.

"Against all odds folks, Team Spook, consisting of Shadowave, Soundwave, and Shockwave; all won their first match without a flaw!" The announcer applauded, but then everything grew hushed in a spark beat and murmurs filled the stands. "Wait. Did I read that right?"

"Shadow, what's going on?" Soundwave asked as he looked over to his leader and brother. The dark indigo and white youngling sniffed the air and took a moment to look around and listen. He hacked into the speakers inside the Announcer box and overheard the frantic conversation of the two commentators trying to come to grips of the situation. "It seems that our names are recognized." Shadow relayed a moment before the announcers came back to the mikes.

"Well folks, it doesn't take a genius to know what happened here." One commentator spoke up as the medical crew started to move onto the battlefield. The three brothers stepped aside from their opponents before being checked out themselves.

"That's right folks, apparently, normal Cybertronians are too good for the _Wave_ brothers" the other commentary announcer chuckled sinisterly. It brought all three brothers to look to one another and then to the announcer's booth. With little warning, Soundwave suddenly clasped his fingers into a right ball. "Something big is coming." He announced which brought Shadow and Shock to look over in the direction their brother gazed in.

The audience fell deathly silent as a horrid screeching sound was unleashed from an opening gate. The arena itself transformed too, bringing a huge metal shield to enclose the battlefield around them. The medics looked around as they saw the once open arena close off and they knew better than to stick around for long. They all were left to drag their patients out of the arena as one medic turned around, older and more seasoned than the rest. He overlooked the group of kids with worry before calling out to them.

"Be careful you three. I'd hate to have to bring you back to your trainer on a stretcher." The medic advised before turning away and evacuating the arena. The fearsome call emitted again as the metal gate from the other side was completely opened and a silhouette, of whatever the trio had to face, slowly approached. The three mechs grabbed their weapons of choice before taking a fighting stance and staring down their new opponent.

"Please don't tell me what I think that is." Shockwave grumbled as he fidgeted anxiously. Shadow nodded, lowering his head to where the frontal screen seemed like a face. His silver optics disappeared and view and activated a different type of vision. Shockwave dimmed the orb of light emanating from his eye and soon all three only held black emotionless faces.

"I hate Basilisks" Shadow growled angrily as they prepared themselves for the monster to come.


	2. Substitute

_Milicycle= 1 minute. There is a time it's used, so just be aware_

The serpentine beast slithered out with head reared up and gazing down at its new victims. There was barely a second delay in the swift creature's movements as it flickered a segmented tongue from its maw and struck only seconds later. Shadow and Sound were quick to jump to the side in a split second and the beast struck the ground with a force that shook the arena. Some of the audiences 'oohs' could be heard from beyond the thick metal that trapped predator and prey.

"Shadow, what do we do!" Shockwave inquired stood back up. He wasn't fast enough to get out of the way, but ironically he was knocked over from the surrounding force. Shadow analyzed the beast and looked over it with his sonar. He was pinned for a solution but he went for the most obvious choice.

"I hate to say it, but if we take out the optics, then we can at least hinder some of its movement." The brilliant strategist concurred as he jumped backward, avoiding a lashing tail. Of course with the beast being in its alternate form, the tactic was easier said than done.

"Well let's not waste time!" Shockwave growled, charging forward without a moment's notice. The snake was distracted for a moment on Soundwave dodging around to its left, but the largest of the three spooks was quickly noticed.

"SHOCKWAVE!" Shadow cried out as he barreled forward without second thought. There was a brief moment where time seemed to slow. The creature hurled its massive head towards Shockwave, who was powerless to stop the strike. Shadow took aim at the creature's rapidly approaching head, readying a balled fist. He lashed out in a right hook, but missed the targeted optic by a few inches. He still managed to use the force to knock away the basilisk's head, but as time came back into full speed the snake was now aiming at Shadow. He stood no chance.

Soundwave took a chance, doing the same but with swords drawn. However as he got close, the snake reversed its frontal attack and turned in the blink of an optic, snatching up the frail mech with greatest of ease. Sound pounded and slashed the creature's muzzle before it let him go, squealing and yelping out as one of the fierce blades caught its optic. But once dropped, Soundwave curled into a ball for a moment before crawling a few inches and collapsing.

"Shockwave, hit it while it's down!" Shadow ordered as he wasted no time to assist his brother, skidding to a halt and kneeling to overlook the damage. A few teeth marks along the hull of Soundwave's abdomen and back, all leaking Energon. There was nothing Shadow could do at the moment, but he brought his optics into view to gaze at that black screen. "Can you hang on?" Shadow asked sincerely. "I will forfeit this match if you can't."

But Soundwave shook his head furiously. "I'll rest in the corner, just keep that thing away." He responded as he managed to stand on two shaky legs. Doubled over he hobbled over to a safer section of the arena, prompting the announcer to jeer at him immediately.

"One out already, and if Shadow doesn't hurry back over, he'll be on his own!"

Shadow looked over his shoulder, finding the Basilisk had left Alternate mode and was now attacking with clawed front legs and tree trunk like hind legs. Its head however was still a number one concern and it kept one eye on Shockwave at all times. The poor spook was rolling around like a toy as he was batted left and right from the strikes.

Shadow snarled, baring his teeth and curling his tail upward to grab hold and take the staff weapon in hand. He charged forward, weapon readied more like a javelin and waited until he was at optimal range. Once he achieved it, he took one more step forward, planted his foot and with his entire body, and threw the spear. The shot was flawless and took out the other eye, halting the assault on Shockwave long enough for him to scramble away, though staggering from dizziness.

"Rest a second, I'll get him." Shadow snarled as he bolted forward, soon putting himself into a baseball slide. He slid until he was directly under the snake's head, then he planted his servos and drove his feet upward. It screeched out and the massive head flew back while Shadow's momentum was enough to get him momentarily airborne. His strike from here was predicted, but the beast recovered too quickly and opened its mandible wide. "Oh scrap"

Now Shadow was snatched up by the beast. He rolled a little to avoid the venom filled fangs at the front of his mouth, but it put him in direct line of being swallowed. He fought to keep all of his limbs from being crushed by massive teeth and squirmed around to prevent from going down the gullet face first.

Taking no nonsense, the basilisk hurled Shadow into the air with a single motion. Dazed, the spook did nothing but flail his limbs and cry out for help from his brother, who was doing Primus knows what. Once he looked down again he plotted the collision course, but he fell faster than he thought and one of the lower fangs pierced through his right shoulder, narrowly missing his spark chamber in the process. Winded, there were no cries now as the lower jaw collided with the upper; Shadow was only lucky he was situated behind the front fangs.

Once it had gotten a taste to Energon, the basilisk spat Shadow out and targeted the only remaining spook, but the noise from the energized crowd and panicking medical staff confused the beast. Shockwave regained his senses a second too late, but just seeing his two older brothers injured brought him to charge forward, bringing forth the deadly ball and chain and striking down at the beast's head as the spook jumped. With the brute force on his side, the basilisk's limbs crumbled and shifted back to its serpentine body. Shockwave managed to get off one more swing as he pummeled the creature on the side of its maw, giving it a chance to slowly slither away and somehow find its way back to the gate it came from.

The crowd was halfway between cheering and concerned mumbles as the protective shield slowly lowered. Now faced with the real battlefield rather than a tiny screen, the audience overlooked and became silent as medics poured in from every which way possible. One set gave thumbs up to Shockwave, who stood gazing to the other two and shaking off the prodding physicians. The audience didn't react beyond a slight applause. They knew Shockwave was alive.

One medic knelt down to Soundwave who was slumped next to a rock. He was the older from before and immediately the orange and white physician checked for signs of life. Once Soundwave had responded to a simple touch he was asked. "Where are you right now?

"In the Coliseum. Is it over?" Soundwave asked tiredly. The orange and white medic gave the thumbs up on his end and the crowd cheered in relief. The spook was hauled to his feet and escorted slowly out of the arena alongside Shockwave. On the other side of the battlefield a red and white medic ran over to assist, just now arriving and assessing the situation grimly.

"Shadow, respond!" he called out, kneeling on one side and checking for everything, from a spark beat to a simple twitch and cycling of air. He about passed out from anticipation as the spook brought his left arm up and grabbed hold of the young medic's shoulder. "I…I'm good" Shadow barely managed to gasp. He was quickly supported with the medic's servos, one on his chest and the other around the thin waist.

"We'll see about that." The medic responded as he assisted the slightly smaller mech to his feet, but they refused to support him. Of course the audience was going bananas enough to see all three contestants had survived, but the medical team could care less. The older medic saw the need of assistance and he promptly ran over to his trainee. "Knockout, you're supposed to give the thumbs up." The older scolded.

"I'll remember protocol when the contestant's arm isn't falling off, ok?" the young medic snapped in return, more concerned about the lowered neck and the spooks unwillingness to move his legs. In his mind this wasn't a simple fix, but clearly his teacher wasn't affected. He still refused to speak to his mentor and persisted in trying to get Shadow to talk back.

"Hey, bud. You won, come on" the medic tried to congratulate. Not much of a glory, but there was always worse.

"I...I don't care about winning…not now." Shadow barely whispered. The older medic hushed him quickly and gave a scolding stare to his apprentice. Knockout stared back and looked away, but he still refused to leave Shadow's side as he was gently placed over the medical table alongside his brother, Soundwave.

"Will they be ok?" Shock asked as he was just getting checked out from minor scrapes and dents. He looked to the more seasoned medical officer, though truthfully even he didn't look to be much older some of the graduates he'd seen from medical training.

The orange and white physician shook his head in uncertainty. "Hard to say. Neither have been poisoned, but they are both so small." He spoke. Of course he spoke in their height but also their physical size. In comparison, even the youngest medical officer, Knockout, was a few feet taller and had grown out of his sparkling padding.

"Well then let's get to work!" Knockout spoke, eager to get in his field of profession. All those years studying the Cybertronian's biology and how to fix it, surely he would need the field training before he could be a fully fledged medic. But the seasoned officer stopped him from just jumping in and repairing stuff.

"We haven't even evaluated them!" he scolded, taking a piece of equipment from a surgical table nearby and scanning Shadow first, seeing the green beam of light flashing to red over each indication of injury. He did the same to Soundwave, though to his younger brother, the whole beam seemed to be red.

"It doesn't take a genius to see what's wrong with them, Ratchet." Knockout defied, moving over to Shadow and taking a patch of metal before laying it over the spook's upper pectoral plating. He began to patch the wound over before carefully assisting Shadow to turn on his side where the exit wound stared back at Knockout's white face. "His internal cabling is destroyed, but with a little Energon and some repair work on the frame, he should be ok. The other wounds are superficial and will heal on their own." The medic diagnosed before setting to work on repairing what he had suggested.

Ratchet turned over his shoulder and glared down; a bit miffed he didn't get the chance to suggest just that. "Oh yeah? Well tell me smart aft. What's wrong with him?" the seasoned medic challenged, bringing Knockout to cease his work for a moment to look over at the darker colored mech. All the while Shockwave stood wide eyed and drank out of the Energon cube he was given. "Should….you guys really be doing this now?" he practically squeaked, but was left unheard.

"Several internal organs were punctured. Most of them will heal or can be patched up, but at this point bleeding is more of a concern." Knockout diagnosed leaving Ratchet to look over what the young hotshot just called out, realizing that more or less he was right. "Show off." Ratchet grumbled as he brought out his fusion splicer to seal up the main organs in Soundwave's midriff. Once he was sure the main problems were out of the way he quickly set to trying to fix up the several holes.

"Team Spook." A tournament official called from the medical bay's door. He was looking over the carnage and mass amounts of Energon everywhere. The three brothers weren't the only injured there after all as the entire medical staff was rushing to and from to fix and patch up their patients. "Uh…you have 10 milicycles to report to the arena, your match with the Wreckers begins soon." The drone stated as he looked over to the only conscious member of the group.

"10 Milicycles!" Shockwave jumped to his feet, dropping the empty cube in his hand. "But I'm the only one functioning right now. Can't we get some time?" he pleaded, but the official shook his helm.

"If you can't make it, then you forfeit."

Shockwave looked over to Shadow and Sound, with both medics at a frantic pace already to try and get stability. "I don't think we have enough time." Shock sighed in defeat. The official nodded again and turned to move away but was stopped by a slithering tentacle tapping him on the shoulder. Promptly he turned and saw Shadow looking back at him. "I…I will fight." He said weakly.

Knockout slapped him upside the helm. "You can't possibly fight! Not with one arm being non-functional." He hissed as he had barely started the tedious task trying to bend the broken frame back and patch it up.

"Then throw my arm in a sling!" the spook wormed away from Knockout and looked the medic with a challenging seriousness. Knockout sputtered and placed a servo on the spook's shoulder and pushed him down, finding a huge amount of resistance in trying. "What makes you think I'll let you just walk out of here bleeding to death?" he retorted, finally gaining control of his patient and forcing him back down to the table. He barely noticed that other medics had come in to help in restraining. It then occurred to Knockout how often something like this must have happened.

"You won't. You'll cauterize the fuel lines and patch the wound." Shadow snarled as he forced himself upright with his right feeler. Knockout stood with mandible dropped and optics meeting the silver hue of Shadow's. He had no intention to miss a fight and as admirable as it was, the medic thought it was misguided and foolish. It was just a tournament.

But Knockout did give in and did exactly as Shadow said; surprised the spook showed only a few winces of pain as the fusion splicer went to work. "So I'll inform the ref you'll be there for the match with all three members?" the official spoke to the two contestants. Shockwave shot a look to Shadow, whose spark dropped as he quickly turned to look over his left shoulder. All he saw was Ratchet's back turned to him and the medic's arms working furiously. Even Knockout stopped to see that moment of defeat.

"We can't fight with two?" Shadow asked trying to find another way if there was such a possibility. The official shook his helm. "Gotta have three members to a team." He responded. Shockwave looked to his older brother and already could see those gears at work. There was a curl of a smile on the spook's muzzle as the plan had hatched.

"Ok, then tell the ref we will have a sub" Shadow grinned, groaning only a little after as Knockout hit an aggravated nerve. The official stood silent for a moment, no doubt checking his internal rule sheet before nodding his helm. "Ok, who?"

"Knockout."

"WHAT!" the medic screeched at the moment he realized he was being forced into this. "Shadow, I'm a medic I can't fight in the tournament!" the red and white hotshot retorted; completely flustered by the sudden turn of events.

"No rule says you can't. Medics are trained to fight too." Shockwave intervened as he crossed his massive arms over his chest and looked down to the nervous physician. Knockout shook his helm and backed away a few steps. "But…I don't want to fight!"

"Maybe not now, but someday you will" Shadow tried to persuade. For some reason Knockout felt an inch more confident in this sudden suggestion, but every fiber of his being still cried out against it. He had never done so well in the fighting part of his training and he knew a tournament wasn't going to help. "Besides, we just need 3 members. Doesn't mean all 3 have to fight, right?" he directed his question to the official who nodded in response.

"No rules state all 3 members have to fight." The drone confirmed and Shadow just looked back over, a pleading glare in his optics. "Please?"

Knockout hesitated. The points were all valid, but he still absolutely refused to partake in this tournament. He'd seen the bloodshed of those who were weak already and didn't want to be added to that list. But he didn't get the chance to say anything as the sign of his hesitation was enough for Shadow to react. "Knockout will replace Soundwave for this match." He confirmed, leaving Knockout incredulous to the lack of decision. The drone nodded and quickly scurried away, reminding the teammates they only had a few milicycles left before the match started.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT!" Knockout practically screamed as he placed horrified hands over his helm.

"Because if we go home without winning, then we will be a disgrace to our master. And I can't imagine what that will do to him." Shadow spoke, almost quietly as if shamed by the idea of even mentioning what would happen if they lost. Knockout didn't really understand what the spook was getting at until he saw Shockwave shiver slightly. "Papa already has it bad enough, his spark would be torn."

"And we'll be orphans again." Shadow added as he stood from the table, taking a few moments to regain his balance. He held his right arm with his left and looked over to Knockout. "So, want to put me in that sling?

Knockout didn't try really argue. He went over to the surgical table with a wide variety of tools. Ducking underneath, he opened a compartment and pulled out a metal contraption before walking over to the spook, which stood a few feet short of the medic. Taking the time to fasten the device around Shadow's torso, he secured the arm in the metal bracing that held the appendage right next to the spook's chest. After strapping the metal sling to Shadow's torso, he tested the ability of movement, finding there was zero give to the sling; just as he wanted it. "Just try not to roll your shoulder if you can help it." He warned before finding an arm settling across his back and pushing him away.

"And you try to follow my lead." The spook grinned as the three headed out for the arena, unprepared for the battle that waited for them in their next death match.

_To be continued…_


	3. The Wreckers

_I know it's short, but the next one is much longer_

* * *

Arriving outside the elevator that transports teams to the arena, Knockout couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by everything going on. He couldn't believe he was fighting; in a tournament of all things too. Still with a sideways glance to Shadow's restrained arm was enough to get him a confidence boost. If anything he could provide onsite medical assistance.

"How familiar are you with Cybertronian pressure points?" Shadow inquired as they stepped in the creaky elevator. Knockout barely had time to consider his response before the brute standing next to him reacted.

"Shadow, how is he going to learn Spook style in 5 seconds?" the youngest brother questioned, crossing his arms over his chest again and seeming a little perturbed that his leader even considered the Medic to try fighting.

"He's not. As a medic, I'm sure he can fight easily with pressure points. _If_ of course he can handle some up close and personal fighting." Shadow scolded, looking back to the red and white hot shot for answers. The medic shrugged and fidgeted in his spot. The elevator ride seemed like an eternity to him with the tension so thick.

"I know just generic ones. Neck, gut, groin, and knee." He responded, trying to be taken a bit more seriously even though he was ready to wet himself at the first sign of danger. He didn't know if he came anywhere near close to the level of their fighting, but judging by the burst of laughter from Shock, he assumed he didn't.

"Those are better than nothing." Shadow shrugged, his tone of voice indicating he wasn't terribly pleased. Knockout couldn't put a finger on it, but something in his spark wanted to prove Shadow wrong. Maybe he was just angry at being opted to fight in Soundwave's stead, but all that potential fury faded away when the roar of the crowd came in and the cheering began as contestants stepped out on the battlefield; even more of a scrap heap than before.

"Alright, folks, it seems team Spook is back from their run in with the Basilisk." One announcer commentated as the group took up a spot in the arena. "And it seems their leader has taken a beating and with one brother missing!"

"That's right, seems the team had to call in a last minute replacement for Soundwave. Hopefully Shadow made the right decision with this new kid." The other announcer picked up as the other team appeared opposite the destroyed field. Knockout couldn't help but cast a disgruntled glance to Shadow. "I hope he did to" he murmured, trying his best not to move his lips and draw attention.

"Just shut up and listen ok?" Shadow hissed back, still trying to maintain a positive smile on his face, only for the sake of seeming like nothing was possibly going wrong. The other team came closer finally and Knockout recognized all three of them instantly. Bulkhead stood in the center while Wheeljack took the left flank and Sideswipe the right. "Shock, aren't they the same age as us?" Shadow glanced over to his taller brother. The brute nodded as he remembered them from the academy.

"Seems we aren't the only Younglings here tonight." Shadow cursed as he secretly tried to pick up the other team's motive for being here. His attention was brought to a halt when Shockwave let out a growling 'scrap!'

"What is it?" Knockout asked, beating Shadow to the question. Shockwave didn't take his optic away from a single place in the audience.

"Fuck!" Shadow cursed as he focused on the one mech he didn't want to see tonight, at least not in this moment in time. With Knockout lost, he barely had time to notice Shadow lean in within inches of his face. "For the love of Primus, if you screw up, just back out and let us handle the fight. We're already in hot water." The spook informed calmly. Knockout had zero clues about what was going on and Shadow knew it. The medic would have asked for clarification, but the ref had stepped out and told the leaders to go shake hands for a clean fight. Once again the contestants were reminded of the rules before the massive frame of Blukhead shook Shadow's hand, doing everything in his power from bursting into laughter.

"Bulk, I don't want to hurt you. Just don't give me or Shock reason to kill you." Shadow warned before the two leaders parted to return to their teams. The seriousness in the giant green mech returned and his ice blue optics were locked with silver ones. "I'll say the same to you."

The two leaders stepped back, neither breaking eye contact with the other. "Knockout, you take Bulkhead." Shadow informed once he was in line with his team. The medic was incredulous of this strategy and didn't understand the game plan.

"What good will that do? He's a tank?" Knockout blithered. The referee was leaving the field and ready to start the match when Knockout felt something slip into his hand. It was Shadow's tail staff, locked up and bowed ever so slightly. The mech looked back to Shadow's dead straight poker face, still gazing down Blukhead from the opposing field.

"Follow behind me and swipe his knees as hard as you can." Shadow instructed before turning to Shockwave. "Strike and disarm Wheeljack, then muscle Sideswipe." he further commanded. Shockwave nodded in response and completely understood the game plan. Knockout on the other hand just felt his knees beginning to knock together and when the alarm sounded he practically wet himself. Something on the other hand tugged at him to move and so he did, running behind Shadow, who was surprisingly quick despite his injuries.

Shockwave ran alongside him and before the medic knew what was happening, Shadow jumped upward, digging the sole of his bases into Bulkhead's helm before pushing off. Knockout saw this as good a cue as any and swung the staff as hard as his mechanisms would allow. The deafening crack echoed through his hull and surprisingly brought the leader to the ground. Knockout stood in a daze that the plan worked while the green brute did everything in his power to get off of his backside. Knockout couldn't help but laugh at this spectacle, but soon he felt a fist collide with the side of his face and before he knew it, he was downed.

A second after he had fallen, he saw the blurry feet of Shockwave step in front of him and wrangle with Sideswipe. He couldn't see exactly how the fight was going, but he brought himself to his feet, still a bit in shock as his audio receptors heard nothing but a jumbled mess of noise. Instinctively he brought a servo to his face, finding a decent sized dent having been placed from the blow. The moment his receptors felt the temporary deformity, something snapped.

Knockout took the staff, still somehow clenched tightly in his palm, and brought it back while his optics took precise aim at Sideswipe's lateral. Again he swung as hard as he could, and the weapon cracked against the athletic Wrecker's hull. It barely did the damage Knockout wanted, but it was more than enough of a distraction for Shockwave to gain the upper hand, twisting around in Sideswipe's headlock and grabbing the warrior's wrist before turning it against him. Once he had done that swift motion, Shock forced Sideswipe's arm back; easily dislocating the arm from its socket. With the cries of agony out of the way, the spook slammed an elbow in the dead center of the silver mech's dorsal; easily putting him to the ground.

"Nice work, pretty boy." Shockwave complimented, taking only that moment to acknowledge Knockout could handle himself before heading over to Shadow and Wheeljack. The leading spook had ensured the white wrecker couldn't retrieve his weapons, but couldn't bring himself to make any sort of frontal assault. A quick look told Knockout precisely why, seeing the patch of metal he had placed earlier broken off and the brace twisted from some kind of force. Shadow was only lucky his brother moved in to catch Wheeljack off balance, and with the wrecker worn from dancing around with one spook, he had no energy to fight off another.

"And it looks like a match! The spooks somehow pull out a victory!" one announcer stated, bringing the crowd to cheer madly as medics routinely rushed in to check on contestants. Knockout barely took a second to bolt to Shadow, immediately finding the story of what went wrong. He didn't even need to ask when he approached the mech.

"Wheeljack is no fool. He tried to grapple past me and I ended up taking a well guided tackle to the wall." Shadow informed, allowing Knockout to overlook the damage that had undone his work. He only sighed in relief when he noticed none of his work had been undone.

"No big deal. Maybe I can get time to fix this now?" Knockout hoped the answer was yes, handing back the tail staff quickly. He almost got his answer as the audience were packing up, chattering tirelessly about all the fights they had seen in the time span of only six microcycles.

"Were we the last match?" Shockwave asked, unaware they would pause the tournament to let everyone rest. It seemed way out of character for the hosts to do something like that.

"I guess…oh…scrap." Shadow suddenly uttered as he looked dead ahead. Shockwave followed his older brother's gaze and his optic grew wide. Knockout was oblivious for the time, at least until he heard someone clear his throat. Only then did he look past the wound and see a figure he had only seen in the news.

"M-M-Megatronus?" the medic stammered, a little in disbelief his idol was standing before him. The disbelief turned to panic as blue optics caught his own. He expected brash words and all sorts of profanity for some reason, but he was only met with a smile.

* * *

_Thoughts?_


	4. Demicons

"Who are you?" the adult asked. He had his arms folded behind his back and looked down to Knockout, even at a fair distance of a few yards. The medic wasn't sure how to answer but eventually gave his name.

"And I presume there is a reason Soundwave couldn't be present for this fight?" Megatronus brought a less gracious gaze to Shadow, and the reaction was enough to tell Knockout everything he needed to know.

"He was injured in our previous fight and wasn't conscious" Shadow responded. His head was held down in fear but he kept optic contact regardless. Knockout only wondered why these two were so tense, even if their master was the all famed Gladiator.

"I see. And you didn't forfeit why?" the grilling continued and Knockout could feel Shadow's frame become more rigid by the second.

"We didn't want to displease you. I knew you challenged us with the Basilisk." Shadow admitted, raising his head marginally to face his master. There was a moment of silence and a calm face over the adult mech, but eventually it was broken with a small smile and a chuckle of satisfaction.

"Well then I suppose you have earned every right to relax tonight." Megatronus retorted with a calm but cheerful demeanor. Knockout barely noticed the adult's gaze shift to him until there was another clearing of the gladiator's throat. The medic brought his attention up immediately and he quickly apologized.

"Will Shadow make a swift recovery?" he asked simply and waited for the expert words of the young medic. Knockout couldn't be sure how to answer such a question. He didn't want to assume anything, but he only supposed the phrase 'rest' meant going home to recharge.

"I think a good night's recharge will straighten him out. He may have a few kinks to work out in the morning, but nothing a little exercise won't work out." He recommended with optimism in his voice. He barely noticed the long stares of question from the adult mech and Shockwave. Only when he did finally see them did his thoughts become jumbled. "What?"

"Oh nothing." Shadow spoke as he twisted his head to look back to Knockout. Now the medic was confused, but more on the forward glance of the spook as he clearly tried to process something. "Just that Spooks don't recharge in the same way as everyone else." The leader informed, bringing a glance over to the white faced medic.

His blue optics went to the ground and tried to make sense of the sentence to no avail. "I'm afraid I don't understand." Knockout responded, taking a step away from his patient as if he carried a virus. Shadow shook his head in a sign of nonchalance.

"It's no big deal."

"But if I understand right, you just said you don't recharge?" Knockout misinterpreted, trying probably too hard to understand the situation. He jumped a little when Shadow brought out a servo and put it on the medic's shoulder; bearing nothing more than a sincere smile. "No we do recharge, just not lying down…or motionless."

"You…Statis-walk?"

"Sure" Shadow beamed, becoming a bit agitated with trying to explain. He made a gesture for the arena exit while both Shockwave and Megatronus were moving already. Knockout gazed into the distance for a moment before moving forward.

"If you don't get a good recharge, then you won't be able to fight tomorrow" the medic stated almost quietly. He was too terrified to know what would happen if the adult had heard that.

"At this point, I'm more worried about my brother." The spook quietly voiced back. His optics were more focused forward but Knockout looked straight at the bestial mech's profile. He wouldn't lie; he was a bit mystified with this mech both in physical appearance and what his processors contained. It prompted him to say something he would normally never think of.

"If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to accompany you ho-" but Knockout didn't even finish his sentence before he heard footfalls stop from all three mechs. Megatronus turned around to give a raised eyebrow to the medic while Shadow and Shock stared at him with stunned optics.

"Not like that!" Knockout defended, seeing immediately where he thought his sentence could be taken the wrong way. "I'd like to make sure both Shadow and Soundwave make a full recovery before tomorrow evening's matches."

"And why would a medic take such an interest?" Megatronus asked his voice cryptic and far from pleasant at this point. Knockout couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his frame at the question. He didn't really have much of an answer prepared either so he stood dumbfounded, frantically searching for an answer.

"Well. I'll be honest, I am curious. I thought Demicons were just myths." He paused to cast a look to the ground, wondering if he even dared to continue. "And…well, there's no medical research on them, so…."

"You want to know how we work?" Shockwave interrupted, becoming a bit miffed at the bush beating. He crossed his arms and scowled at the slightly smaller mech, hoping intimidation would speed things up.

"Well…kinda. With your permission of course, sir." Knockout looked up to the awaiting Megatronus. He didn't expect such a pathetic reason to be enough, but by some saving factor, the all silver adult nodded his head slowly.

"I have no issue. Though just don't get too _immersed_" the gladiator warned before turning and continuing his path. Shockwave scoffed and shunned the medic immediately, soon joining up with Megatronus. Shadow on the other hand stood and waited for Knockout to follow.

"What does he mean by that?" Knockout mumbled aloud, starting a sluggish pace towards the arena exit. He couldn't help but look over at Shadow as if he had an answer, but the mech made no indication of doing such. Instead he just walked silently and disappeared behind the shadows of the door just as the leading two had. Even when Knockout strode through the doorway and into the elevator with the other two, he didn't see Shadow. He looked up and down, but once he caught a glaring eye from Shockwave, the medic focused his optics forward. He was the first to get off the elevator, followed by Shock and Megatronus.

While Shockwave was quick to see to his older brother, now moving around a little, Megatronus lingered in the doorway to the medical bay. "Did I embarrass you?" he spoke quietly. Anyone who looked at him would see he was talking to thin air, but that was far from the truth.

"Never, but I fail to understand by what you mean by 'immersed'" a quiet voice responded back. It was Shadow's as he perched on Megatronus' left shoulder, invisible to the naked optic. He grimly overlooked the scene of Soundwave stirring and making an attempt to stand. Once though the spook had stood and walked around a bit, he felt a bit better.

"You're probably old enough now, so I'll tell you what I meant." The adult said with content. Shadow held his cycle and looked over to his master while waiting for this big secret. "But I'll tell you later. For now, see to your brother." He ordered calmly, holding out his arm to let the boy down.

Shadow easily climbed down and planted weary bases on the cold surface. There was a small click in his internal systems, but with a few steps, he suddenly became visible, as if he wore a cloak and it were cast aside with a flick of the wrist. Shockwave barely cared, but Knockout caught the sudden appearance and stood with his mandible open.

"How are you feeling Sound?" Shadow questioned, bringing a smile to his maw. It was a forced gesture; enough for both his brothers to see. Soundwave nodded his head before responding. "I'll live" he chuckled, but it was also a façade.

Internally, both Shockwave and Soundwave sent a comlink. There the trio felt safe confining anything they had to say with one another.

"_What's going on with you? You seem on edge?"_ Soundwave asked.

"_Papa said there was something he needed to tell me. Because I'm the right age or something like that."_

"_This doesn't have anything to do with that medic does it?"_Shockwave interjected. He made a gesture towards their waiting master and the three started moving as Knockout followed. Shadow couldn't help but glance over his shoulder. He was lucky the medic was too busy explaining to Ratchet what he planned.

"_It might. It sounded like he didn't want either of you knowing."_

"_Well you'll tell us won't you?" _Soundwave inquired, seeming a bit more eager to know in his motions. The two siblings looked to him, both wondering what sort of medicinal Energon he was given.

"_That depends on what he tells me. It may be something I have to keep from you."_

"_But we are your brothers! You can't keep secrets from us!"_ Shockwave turned his head slightly, giving a harmless death glare to his smaller, but older sibling. Shadow only gave him a light punch with his left servo.

"_Sure I can!" _He mocked. It prompted a joking scoff from Shock and a small gasp from Sound.

" _Hey, it's two against one, we'll get it out of you somehow!" _Soundwave teased. Shadow barely noticed as the taller sibling playfully shoved him forward. The next thing they knew a play fight broke out, with Shadow being the one trying to get away while the other two gave chase. Knockout only stared with shock and confusion as this fight suddenly broke out in front of him.

"Uh guys? Is that really the best thing to be doing?" He voiced, soon catching Megatronus' optics as they left the medical bay. The adult shook his head and turned away before motioning for the Medic to walk beside him. The red and white medic didn't need a second thought to pick up his pace and join alongside the gladiator. "Yes sir?"

"If you are wanting to learn about Demicons, then this should be the first thing you know." The silver mech gestured a hand towards the trio who had no trouble running around the corridors while playing who knows what game. "They are very…hard to understand."

Knockout felt the bit of advice redundant. He frowned at the words as they ran back and forth through his processors. He wanted to ask for clarification, but decided for the sake of being accepted into the family for the night, he'd keep his mandible shut.

The group of Cybertronians finally reached a somewhat standard section of the city. While the streets were dark, hovering blue orbs illuminated the area, showing the buildings consisted of mainly towering structures; each one filled with dozens of apartments suitable to dwell in comfortably.

Megatronus gently veered towards a building on his right, making his way to the guarded doorway before entering. The lobby of the complex wasn't much to look at. Nothing more than a blank room with elevators on each side and a few hallways which lead to the ground floor apartments. Of course he headed towards one of the elevators, keeping the doors open long enough for all four adolescents to squeeze in. Knockout barely paid attention to which floor the adult wanted. He was too concerned with the sudden proximity of the three spooks while he was pushed into a corner.

The ride up was short, the doors opening up on the 4th floor to hallways that didn't look much different than the lobby; drab and gray. Megatronus slipped out and took a left, soon having a door opening to his unique coding signature. The younger mechs all filed in and the spooks dispersed once inside of the house. Shock and Sound moved down a hallway adjacent to the main door and disappeared behind two other doors.

"What was that about?" Knockout asked as he looked over to Shadow, but even then the mech wouldn't meet his eye. Shadow soon moved forward and to the hallway, disappearing behind yet another door.

"Lesson number 2." Megatronus began. Knockout looked up in earnest, wondering if this next message would be just as confusing as the last. " Demicons are…really hard to understand."

"Didn't….you already say that?"

"No, Last time I said they were very hard to understand." Megatronus said before he moved away from the door and towards what could only be the living space. Knockout didn't understand, but still waited for an explanation as the adult lowered himself in his favorite chair, resting one elbow on the arm of the seat. He turned the chair so it would allow him to stare out the window before he rested his helm against a clenched servo.

"So you don't know what happened there either?"

"Oh no, I do. They don't know you." The mech cryptically responded. Knockout didn't follow the thought process and finally moved towards the living area, which consisted little more of a few chairs, data storage units, and a low couch as furniture.

"Of course they don't, but isn't that what 'meet and greet' is about?" Knockout inquired, befuddled by what the Gladiator was hiding from him. He felt he was about to receive his answer before he heard a door creak open. The medic quickly peered down the hallway to see Shadow was waving a servo for him to come over. Megatronus caught the sudden attention shift in his guest and stood quickly. "It's about gaining their trust." He indicated before moving down the hallway. "If you'll excuse me, I have something I need to tell Shadow."

Knockout nodded his head and drew his attention elsewhere. He wasn't about to impose on what the lord of the living quarters wanted, so he figured to at least browse over the data files they possessed. Knockout was pleasantly surprised that they had literature of all sorts of stuff from medical science to combat tactics and theories. In fact the more he looked, the more he found their arsenal of data consisted of anything and everything needed for a soldier.

His attention was drawn when he found a piece of data on 'spooks'. While his slang wasn't entirely up to par, he knew well that spooks meant Demicons. Knockout couldn't resist himself, taking the data panel from its shelf and reading it as if it were one of those panels adults got from special stores.

_Thoughts?_


	5. Curiosity Killed The Spook

Megatronus had made his way down the hall with ease, soon striding through the door of his oldest. Shadow stood waiting in the middle of the room, looking up as the adult entered. The youngling had little to speak of in his room. A mat on the floor consisted of his berth, a chair sitting before a cluttered desk, and a few other knickknacks around the floor. The outstanding feature was the line of shelves on the normally bare walls. Each was littered to the brim with data panels consisting of thousands of years worth of knowledge on just about everything. The Adult mech smiled lightly as he thought to himself that all of these works had been read in just a matter of days. But he quickly brought his attention back down to the spook before him.

"Shadow," he began as he moved to the room, slowly putting his rear to the ground to be on level with the tiny mech. "Remember some hundred gigacycles ago I told you about interface?" Megatronus couldn't help but feel a tinge of embarrassment over what he just uttered.

There was a few seconds of thought as Shadow tried to recall said conversation. He dug through internal files until he found it, remembering he wasn't even in the Iacon academy when he was given this lecture. Though to his knowledge it was nothing more than just the facts and how it was done. "Yes, I recall. I remember making a gagging noise when you told me about the details." The spook grimaced, trying to shake that memory out of his head.

"Well, obviously I tried to make it sound as disgusting as possible so you wouldn't get caught up in trying to find a partner." The adult admitted. He barely could look at Shadow at this point, feeling this conversation needed to be as straight forward as possible. But just trying to plan this out was difficult enough.

"Sir, I have no interest in mating with another. I've…I've heard Shockwave…well I don't know what he's doing, but I know it's related to this." The spook admitted, finding he couldn't look at his parent either. As if things couldn't have been more awkward, Shadow even could pinpoint why this was being brought up.

"That is called self-service. I'm sure I told you tha-"

"Please stop!" Shadow backed away, folding his receptors back and covering them. "I can't think of my brother that way, much less doing that myself."

"You don't have any kind of desire? Not even times you suddenly feel restless. Not even wandering optics?" He didn't like the way Shadow responded. It was the sort of thing that he feared the spook would do to begin with; become more of a machine than mechanical organism.

"N-no…" that was a lie, and even the adult could see it. "Ok, I know I feel restless a lot. But I don't think its…._that_" he voiced in disgust. This was not how he wanted this conversation to go, or even he wanted to have. Shadow knew he was almost matured, but there were things he feared; things he felt would separate him from his siblings.

"It's ok if it is. I just bring this up simply because of Knockout." Meagtronus tried to defuse the situation with a calm tone and change of subject. Though he could barely consider it a change.

"Are you saying the medic may try to frag me? If that's the case get him out!" Shadow said, furious suddenly. The spook understood in full now what exactly was meant earlier, and with that knowledge, he didn't want the medic; didn't want the change.

"I didn't say he would." Megatronus tried to speak calmly, reaching out a servo to ease the spook, but Shadow jerked away and backed himself in against a wall, audio receptors flared back. "I know his type, likes to know what he's dealing with on emotional level. That's how things tend to start."

"Well I don't want any part of it. He's a medic and that's all!" Shadow hissed, baring his teeth ever so as he became more infuriated by the minute that Knockout was still within his space. Megatronus simply gave the stern glare of a parent, and it worked wonders. The second that stink optic came out; Shadow straightened up and bowed his head, optics glued to the floor. "I…I'm sorry."

"Son, I don't know why you can't make friends at the very least." The adult mech sighed in disappointment. The tone was enough to bring the spook to 4 legs and hung his head in shame. "Would it kill you?"

"No. I just don't trust him."

"Give him a chance. Maybe you can." Megatronus said. He had brought his tone back to cheerful and it seemed to be working. Shadow nodded and stood, walking over shamefully and wrapping his thin arms as best he could around the parent's thick neck.

"I'm sorry, I know you've had it tough. I shouldn't be so selfish."

"You aren't being selfish. I just haven't taught you boys how to be social. That was always something Blitzwing did." Meagtronus admitted, taking his surrogate son in his arms. Even the adult mech would be the first to admit he was likely the problem to begin with, but he wanted to make up for that.

But there was something within the silver mech's spark that couldn't stand the thought of being in that room any longer, not with the mentioning of his past mate. Without so much as a word, he released the spook and stood, turning to leave before Shadow could even say anything.

"Knockout." He called. The medic in the room fumbled with something, but Megatronus didn't care, he wanted the medic out of his sight to let him reminisce and brood. "Go to Shadow." He ordered calmly, soon taking his seat once again and bringing optics to stare out the window.

- — - — - — - — -

Knockout didn't question a second longer. He placed the data panel back where he found it and made a mad dash to the back room, excited and somewhat giddy he had learned a little more about the Demicon species before putting his knowledge to use. However he lost all motive to test things out as he saw the spook also staring out the window with servos laced behind his back.

"Uh, hello?" Knockout called out, finding the spook had turned quickly to see the red and white medic stepped in. The air was a trifle tense, and it made Knockout uneasy. "So…" he began

"You are curious about me aren't you?" Shadow picked up the thought as if he just plucked it from the medic's processes.

"Yeah. I read a little on that data panel while you were talking. Is it true you have….feelers?" he sounded almost excited about the mentioning of such a dangerous tool. The text made it sound like diabolical weapons that could suck the very soul out of an enemy. Knockout didn't believe that, but he wanted to know anyway.

"You mean these?" Shadow asked, focusing his thoughts on some obvious black tubing. Silver tri-clawed mandibles detached from his hips and snaked around for a moment before hovering over to Knockout. They kept a good distance from him, but they tentacles circled around like a predator before they retracted back and reattached themselves. Knockout was impressed more than intimidated.

"That was awesome! What do they do?" he asked, moving further into the room and sitting casually on the floor, barely taking notice of his surroundings. Shadow blinked before frowning just so

"Didn't the text tell you?"

"It made it sound like they were the worst thing engineered by Cybertronian scientists."

"Really?" Shadow didn't gather the text had said that. Then again why read about stuff you already know. "They can do a variety of things. Data transfer, restraining, scout stuff. You know, stuff a normal Cybertronian can do with the right technology and skill." He made it seem like it was no big deal, and it wasn't. To him, using the feelers was like using his own two servos.

"Wooooooooow." Knockout was impressed, scooting forward and trying to get Shadow to sit on the floor with him. The spook was hesitant at first, but with remembering his conversation from moments earlier, he sat on the floor a few yards away. "So if Megatronus is your parent, why doesn't he have them?"

Shadow's cheeks suddenly turned a bright red as he averted his optics. Knockout jumped out of his hull, feeling he had said something terribly wrong. "I'm sorry, I didn't think that would be such a bad thing to sa-"

"It's not. It's just the situation" Shadow said, glancing over at the red and white medic for just a moment before looking back at his desk.

"What situation?" Knockout asked, feeling a bit more at ease.

"Well…Megatronus is not my _real_ parent."

The phrase took a moment to set in before Knockout was able to translate that. At first he was confused but then his facial expression changed to mortified. "Oh Primus, I'm sorry, I didn't know!" he felt embarrassed for even bringing up something like that.

"It's ok. We're lucky we have him."

"You mean all three of you are orphans?"

"Yeah…It was so long ago, I barely remember my real parents." Shadow drew his lips tight, trying his best to keep fluid out of his optics. It was an outright lie, he did know his real parents and the day he became responsible for his younger siblings.

Knockout felt uneasy at this point. It was the wrong button to push when he had so much he wanted to know. But he wasn't about to seem self centered. Carefully, and watching every move the spook made, he shuffled over towards the other mech. Once he had closed the proximity he put a servo on the mech's shoulder, patting it gently before sitting back down. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

But Shadow only wilted, the wings on his back rotating until the red tips hit the floor. He let his sides relax until he practically fell into Knockout, with his helm gently colliding with Knockout's broad torso.

Knockout practically threw his servos into the air as the spook was now against him, too spark broken to even say anything. "I guess I really shouldn't have brought it up, huh?" Knockout tried to ease into this situation. The spook nodded and sighed before opening his optics again.

"Normally I would have punched your lights out, but Papa told me to make friends." Shadow spoke finally, bringing his optics up to look at Knockout's.

"I'm sorry, what?" the medic was too lost to even make an appropriate facial expression. "I don't mean to be rude…but, _this_ isn't exactly how you make friends." He kept his servos in the air and used his optics to gesture to the current situation. Shadow was only a few inches from just outright sitting in the medic's lap and to him that didn't seem like the friendship intended.

"I'm starting to understand that." Shadow said, a bit defeated in his tone. Knockout gave him the benefit of the doubt; at least the spook _didn't_ pummel his face. "But I do have to ask one thing."

Knockout was all receptors at this point. He wasn't quite sure where the spook was going with this, but with the crazy night it had already been, the sky was the limit. "Oh?"

"You didn't come here to…frag me did you?" Shadow asked, so genuinely that Knockout had a knee jerk reaction to jump upright and back peddle until he collided with the wall.

"_That_ really isn't how you make friends either!" he breathed out, a bit shocked he had even heard such a question. Shadow's brow furrowed as he used his own arms to prop himself upright.

"Strange…papa was so sure you were."

"Well…" Knockout faltered. The spook's full attention was on the red and white medic at this. He even challenged Knockout to finish that sentence with nothing more than a cold stare. "I'm not going to lie, I thought about it, but stuff like that always crosses my mind." Knockout defended, now in full out panic mode. "But after I thought about it, I figured it was a bad idea, since you are the son of Megatronus…and he'd have my aft hung on the wall if he found out."

"Yeah…You might be right." Shadow concurred, not entirely sure where to go with this new found information. On one hand he had to know, but on the other he just wanted to play ignorant.

"Did…you..want to fr-"

"NO!" Shadow practically leapt from his very spot to pin Knockout down and keep him silent. He saw the medic jump at the sudden raise in his tone. "I…I couldn't possibly imagine." Shadow admitted calmly before averting his gaze once again. The gesture alone told Knockout everything he needed to know.

"I'm sure you can't." he concurred, shifting his weight forward and practically crawling towards the spook. He had mischief in his eyes and a need to test this spook. There was a lot the text said about them, but there was more that Knockout wanted to find out for himself.

"What are you doing?" Shadow caught the glance, starting to back up away from Knockout.

"Just a test." The medic smirked. He closed the distance between the two as Shadow hit a corner. Knockout worked passed defensive servos and hind legs, soon planting an experimental kiss on the spook's lips.

Shadow went rigid as the foreign touch. He looked to Knockout and studied the features before a servo moved passed his defenses and cupped his jaw line gently. Something within Shadow's programming told him to relax, but he wanted to fight.

Knockout pulled back, left servo still holding that strong jaw tenderly. There was a look in his optics that Shadow couldn't decipher but the electricity he felt coaxed him to move his helm forward, now kissing the medic back, but with more curiosity.

Knockout only grinned, moving with the gesture and taking that exploratory kiss to something a bit more of his taste. "So you don't want me huh?" he whispered delicately after they had taken a moment apart. Shadow brought silver optics to the medic, unsure of what he wanted to say or do. He threw out everything his surrogate parent told him before nodding.

"Quite the contrary."

_Thoughts?_


	6. The Serum

Shadow barely knew what he was doing when he kissed back once again, but it was all he knew to do. He was lucky Knockout seemed to have some area of expertise as he brought in a new element that slipped past Shadow's sharp teeth. Something escaped his vocals as his glossa fought this new entity

"You're cute." Knockout grinned as he broke that deepened passion, but it was quickly reignited. Shadow didn't get a chance to respond, but he could care less. There was something unsettling going on between his legs. A heat he had only felt on occasion after a deep recharge.

He had to ignore it when Knockout pressed his body against Shadow's. So many contact points, Shadow was overwhelmed by the sensor nodes telling him this was good. He about lost it when Knockout allowed one servo to explore the spook's waist, mapping curious digits over every curve and dip.

Shadow tried to mimic the same, but the gesture was lost in the heat of things. He ended up just digging his finger tips into Knockout's back plating. The medic moved away from the spook's untouched lips and delicately ran his glossa over the neck plating, cables, and pistons. Shadow couldn't help but groan out a little bit more.

"You've never done this before have you?" Knockout asked, stating the obvious. Shadow shook his head and panted, feeling the heat in his body become more than overwhelming. Knockout only grinned, but felt intimidated as well.

"That's ok, it's my first time too" he admitted, running his servos along Shadow's long waist.

"What?" Shadow panted, a bit too lost to understand exactly what this entailed. Knockout only responded with a one more brief kiss

"Making out isn't interface you know" he chuckled. Though from here he was admittedly stumped. Sure his panel was heated, but with only the knowledge of how things work, he didn't know the fashion of transition.

"Oh." Shadow didn't care, the close proximity of Knockout's body was enough to distract. It gave Knockout opportune time to bring one of his servos down to grab Shadow's thighs. He had barely noticed the spook's legs had spread open to let Knockout close. Now the bases were held up with toes curled tightly in response to everything going on.

"Can…you unlock your port?" Knockout asked kindly, feeling beyond embarrassed for even asking. Shadow drew hungry optics to the medic. Something clicked down below and Knockout could only feel something slide in between him.

"I said the port." He teased, biting down on one of Shadow's neck cables. He didn't hear another click but instead felt a servo grab him by the wrist. He was guided down, past the spook's heated spike and past his own scorching panel. Once his fingers felt the hot sticky lubricant, Knockout's processors were swimming.

Instinctively he felt the snap of his own panel before he took one finger to explore that untouched valve. Once he pressed one digit in, Shadow tightened around him while the beast panted, unsure of whether to moan or make pain expressions. He opted for both.

"Oh..primus." the spook whimpered as he clenched his optics shut.

Knockout took in the sight and pushed the digit in further, pulling it out slightly and pushing back in. He felt something wrap around his waist, finding the tentacles had moved from their spot and were now a part of this. One brushed tantalizingly close to Knockout's spike and shivers were sent down his frame.

"Do that again." He begged. The tentacle snaked back, finding the throbbing spike and brushing against it gently. Knockout's hips bucked unexpectedly and he pushed another digit into Shadow's valve.

"Knock..out…"Shadow panted, hungry but also in pain. The medic ignored it and started a rhythm with his digits, leaving the spook to only whimper and groan quietly.

The feeler brushed back over Knockout's spike, but this time lingered. It wrapped around and squeezed gently. Knockout made a sputtering sound as his processors were met with a new sensation. It only egged him to increase his momentum with his fingers, and Shadow nearly came apart right there.

"Aah…Knockout…I don't think…" he gasped sharply losing whatever he was trying to say. The medic caught the hint and pulled his digits out, running them into his mouth. The taste was unexpectedly sweet and he would have to remember for more of a taste next time.

"Are you ready?" Knockout asked, taking himself in hand after pushing aside the curious tentacle.

"I-I…don't think my spark can take it." Shadow gasped, bringing a servo up to clench at the mesh grill that made up his hull. Knockout smile and gave him a light kiss.

"You'll be fine." He voice. Lining himself up, he pressed the tip of his spike against the eager valve. Shadow already tensed up against Knockout, still keeping one servo against his hull.

"Relax" the medic whispered, pushing himself in slowly. He was beginning to think the heavy panting and sharp gasps were over reacting. It was up until the point another servo weakly pushed against his hull.

"Stop…please" Shadow begged, his optics flickering wildly.

Knockout was confused. He didn't know well enough to see this wasn't normal behavior for interface, but he still stopped and pulled out. "What's wrong?" Knockout asked, putting a smile over his face.

Maybe he was going too fast. Maybe Shadow wanted to save this for another night. Nothing at all crossed his mind that his hook up was overheating.

"Knockout, I'm…roasting." Shadow informed, no longer making the same pleasuring noises he was making earlier. The smile disappeared from Knockout's face and his optics widened.

"Please….tell me that you have a coolant system." He pleaded. The information of spooks being born without certain functioning organs came to mind. It didn't take even a word for him to understand the spook was cycling horrendously for cool air, overworking his compressors to the extreme.

"Scrap." Knockout cursed, realizing the evening went from being fun to a medical emergency. He wasted no time in prying open Shadow's chest plate. The amount of steam that overflowed out from the spark chamber was over whelming, but already the effects were drastic.

"Better?" Knockout asked once he saw the amount of cycles taken in become less frantic. Shadow nodded, but his optics was filled with guilt.

"What's wrong?" Knockout asked, catching the glance through the thick rolls of steam.

"I ruined it didn't I?"

Knockout wasn't about to admit that he was disappointed, but he shrugged it off. "We can always try another time." He proposed, though he had to wonder if it was even his place to assume. "If…you want to of course."

There was no hesitation in Shadow's gestures, he nodded quickly. "I want to. Even with all that, it still felt amazing." Though Shadow hated having to swallow his own words.

"Then I suppose there's only the matter of just making sure you don't over heat….or.." Knockout took a moment to remember the foreboding father figure. Had Megatronus learned this medic basically spiked his son, there would have been no end.

"I'll take care of him. He already knows anyway."

Knockout was livid. He felt his exposed spike sink away and the panel click tightly in response. "What do you mean, he already knows?"

"He's standing outside the door and listening." Shadow raised his voice enough for Megatronus to hear from outside.

Knockout felt his spark explode at the thought that the gladiator had just overheard everything. Sure enough the door opened and there stood the looming adult figure, though not as furious as Knockout had imagined.

The silver mech cleared his throat calmly, soon bringing a harsh glare down to the medic, who cringed under pressure. "Perhaps, next time, you should think before you jump into things." The adult spoke cryptically. "Both of you should."

Knockout couldn't help but look over to Shadow for clarification. "I think, Knockout, this would be an opportune time for you to return to the medical barracks." Megatronus suggested with an eerie calm tone. Knockout didn't need an open invitation, but he gladly took it, waving very briefly to Shadow before he bolted out of the apartment. Never did he feel like he had dodged the bullet until now.

- — - — - — - — -

Shadow brought optics up to his parent and Megatronus only sighed deeply. The gladiator couldn't help but bring a servo to his helm, rubbing the thick plating as he contemplated where to go from here. Sure he had known this would happen, but not so quickly.

He could see the spook open his mouth to say something, but the gladiator wouldn't have any of that. He simply put up a servo to stop the boy and already he could see the guilt welling up in Shadow's optics. "What…" Megatronus began but shook his head discarding the question. "Just..why? Why a medic? Why that one?" he finally asked a little more agitated.

Of course Shadow didn't have an answer. He just hung his helm in shame and glued his silver optics to the cold floor. The parent sighed and tried to clear his processor. "I know I told you what I did, but you're smart enough to know better."

"I thought…"

"No, you didn't. I would have been fine with the thought of some medic spiking you," Megatron let out an exasperated cycle of air. He couldn't even look at the spook now, not without imagining what Knockout was doing. ".._If_ you had gotten to know him first!"

"I'm sorry." Shadow whimpered, receptors hanging down in guilt and sorrow.

"Just…please. Not a word of this to your brothers." Megatronus pleaded angrily before turning. The request was folly; odds were the other two knew already. He didn't check to see if Shadow nodded, he didn't care. He simply strode to the back to the main room. He found himself in that chair again, staring out. "Boys, come here." He called.

There was a frantic scurry of feet, only one really made a significant thud. In one blink of an optic, all three spooks had lined themselves up before their parent and master, ridged and eagerly anticipating their orders.

"Tomorrow boys, I go to the political front, as you already know. So the tournament is yours for the taking. Soundwave." The adult commanded and the young dark blue gray spook stepped forward, facial screen pointed towards his parent. "Have you finished the serum?"

The spook nodded, striding off towards his room and returning with a few vials of a glowing blue liquid. To the naked optic it looked like normal Energon, but the three boys had been putting their work into a new serum for quite some time.

"Excellent." Megatronus complimented with a smile. He took one of the vials delicately and looked it over. "Shadow, would you care to take the first sip." The adult looked to the oldest of the three boys before him, glaring him down. He could tell the boy knew what this meant, but he still took a step forward, taking the vial from his master before falling back into line.

"Drink." He ordered.

Shadow didn't hesitate. He parted his thin lips and knocked the vial back toward his maw, drinking in the vial's contents. After smacking his mandible a little, he waited for a moment. It seemed nothing was happening, but Megatronus watched patiently.

The youngling's optics widened suddenly as he dropped to his knees. He had one servo clenching over his abdomen while the other braced him on the floor. But soon even the support gave away and the mech was curled on his side, clenching his gut.

Of course this was intended to happen. Nothing about a forced growth spurt and chemical infusion was going to be pain free. "Get him to his berth, then you both take a vial." He ordered before taking one last vial from Soundwave's digits. The two followed orders, collecting their sibling before dragging him back to his room. From there, they went to their respective quarters and did as told, soon rolling on the hard metal floor as their brother had.

Megatronus grimaced as he set the last vial aside. Once again he brought his optics to gaze out the window. Inwardly he tried to convince himself that what he did was right, but no matter how he played it back in his processors, he felt it was quite the opposite. But what was done is done

He just hoped the growth serum didn't possess too many negative side effects.

* * *

_New Chapters will be withheld for a time. I need feedback from what I have since things go spiraling into weirdness from here. Once I feel I have enough information, I will continue to post chapters_


End file.
